Batting

MALDEN, Mass. ---- Northern Essex pushed across a run in the last of the seventh and held on to defeat the Massasoit baseball team, 5-4, on Wednesday night at Pine Banks Park.

The Warriors (11-10, 7-2 R21) will get two more cracks in the regular season against the Knights (21-12, 12-1 R21), hosting a doubleheader on Friday starting at 2 PM.

Matt McGrath (Braintree) put forth a strong showing on the mound for the Warriors, holding the high-powered NECC offense at bay for most of his five innings of work. The lefty scattered six hits, yielding only three runs, two earned, while fanning four in a no decision.

McGrath and reliever Kasey Kirby (Dedham), who was saddled with the loss despite striking out six in three innings of work, held NECC to its lowest run total since scoring only three runs vs CCRI back on March 23. The Knights had reached 10-or-more runs in 12 of their last 16 contests.

At the plate, Massasoit finished with 10 hits, three coming off the bat of freshman Aidan O'Neill (Halifax). Jonathan O'Donnell (Hull) added two hits, including a double, and knocked in two runs and Luke Lewando (Brockton) went 2-for-4 with one RBI in the loss.